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UCF Library and faculty have saved our students $3.7 million dollars by choosing open educational and library sourced materials for their courses!
For more information, check here library.ucf.edu/textbook-affordability/
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OER Open Educational Resources and Library -sources + 558 classes 39,040 students over savings $3.7 million
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UCF Libraries has made it a priority to find solutions to help students with textbook affordability.
Hey y'all, did you know UCF Libraries has a Textbook Affordability & Student Success Librarian? Check out the link below to see all she can do to help you save money on your textbooks!
Four methods UCF students can try when seeking cheaper books
1. See if your text is available as an e-book
In some cases, the library has purchased the e-book version of assigned course textbooks. These texts can be accessed regardless of time or location and at no cost to the student.
Students can search if their textbooks are available in an e-book format through the library’s digital collections catalog.
2. Utilize textbook lending
In 2018, the library implemented a textbook lending service at the circulation desk. Certain textbooks can be accessed for a two-hour loan on a first-come, first-served basis. Miller cautions students to avoid relying solely on the course reserves — sometimes there is only one copy of a book for a class of 200 students — but it can certainly be used as a resource.
To find if your textbook is part of the reserves, search the reserves catalog.
The library is consistently working to add more titles to the lending library and has gotten help through funding from campus partners and book donations.
In the spring semester, Knights Pantry and the Student Government Association partnered on a book drive, encouraging students to donate their used textbooks to the library. Miller says the library was able to add 60 books to their reserves, bringing their total collection to 226 titles.
SGA and Knights Pantry are currently sponsoring a drive again through Aug. 2. Textbooks can be donated to any of Knights Pantry’s 17 donation bins on campus, which can be located in the maps section of the UCF Mobile app.
3. Negotiate a lower price at the Barnes & Noble at UCF
Take advantage of the bookstore’s price matching option and/or request that the online access code be “unbundled” from the book. Sometimes you can save money by purchasing a used text and an access code, sometimes not. Regardless, the 2008 Higher Education Authorization Act requires that “bundled” items — generally the college textbook and supplemental materials, including online access codes — also be made available “as separate and unbundled items, each separately priced.”
4. Talk to your professor
Faculty want students to be successful. If getting course resources is an issue, it is important to keep them informed of the challenge and ask if there are any alternatives they can offer. For example, students may be able to use an older edition of the textbook.
